Part of occupied ZNPP may need demolition after Russian shelling sparks fire - IAEA chief

According to Reuters, Grossi's comments followed his latest visit to the site.

On Wednesday, September 4, after his fifth visit to the occupied ZNPP, Grossi stated: "Until today, we hadn't been able to get to this point, high up in the tower, so we can assess in a much better way the damage that occurred. This big structure is not usable in the future, so it will probably be demolished at some point."

Grossi described the fire as one of several "reckless attacks," but he didn’t directly point the finger at Russian forces.

Video footage showed Grossi inspecting a water pumping station, a key facility as water has been scarce since the destruction of the Kakhovka dam in southern Ukraine last year. He also toured the nuclear fuel storage site.

Note: A cooling tower is a specialized structure that removes heat from water, primarily through evaporation into the air.

Fire at Zaporizhzhia NPP on August 11

On August 11, a fire broke out at the Russian-occupied Zaporizhzhia NPP, with thick black smoke rising from the site.

Yevhen Yevtushenko, head of the Nikopol District Military Administration, said unofficial reports suggest Russian forces set fire to a large number of tires in the cooling towers, possibly to provoke panic among locals or to stage a provocation.

Energoatom, Ukraine's nuclear power agency, later confirmed: "On August 11, 2024, around 8:00 p.m., a fire occurred at the technical water supply facility on the Zaporizhzhia NPP grounds. Cooling tower number one caught fire, along with some other equipment."

The fire was likely caused either by negligence on the part of Russian troops or by deliberate arson. The damaged cooling tower is about a kilometer from the plant's reactor units.

By early morning on August 12, the radiation levels at the plant remained within normal limits, and there was no immediate threat of contamination to the population.

IAEA observers also reported heavy dark smoke following evening explosions at the NPP and speculated about a possible drone strike on the cooling tower.

The ZNPP team reported a possible drone strike today on one of the cooling towers. No immediate risks to nuclear safety have been observed, the IAEA said.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stressed: "As long as Russian terrorists control this nuclear plant, the situation cannot be considered safe." He called for global action against what he described as another provocation by Russia.

Meanwhile, Russia claimed that the fire in the cooling systems was caused by Ukrainian shelling.

On August 12, IAEA experts inspected the damaged cooling tower but couldn’t determine the exact cause of the incident.